


The Medium

by mstoomanyships



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Sal Has Powers, Alternate Universe- Ghost Hunters, Gen, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, Plot, Rating/Tags/Warnings May Change, teenagers being dumb
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-09-28 15:46:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17185862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mstoomanyships/pseuds/mstoomanyships
Summary: Sal didn't know he was different for many years of his life.He didn't realize that the people with gray, cold and faded bodies were only seen by him.He didn't know that this power, this sixth sense of his, could ever bring him into danger, until he moved into Addison Apartments.He didn't know it could be the end of him.





	1. A Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thanks for clicking onto this fic! This is the first time I've written anything like this in years, so forgive me for having some mistakes. Enjoy the story! There are mores notes at the end for clarification.
> 
> Story will update every Friday!

Sal didn’t remember exactly when he could see ghosts. All he knew is after the attack, when he lay in his hospital bed, his mother was with him. The sterile, cold scent of the room frightened him, the bustling outside was unfamiliar, and the nurses didn’t look him in the eye and touched him as little as possible. It was all so different, so scary, and his disfigured face wasn’t helping. He cried during the nights, when nightmares woke him up, when his face began bleeding through the bandages again, or when he remembered that he could only see out of one eye. He never could shake the fear of being hurt and alone for a long, long time.

Sal didn’t bother to wake up his dad when his nightmares became worse. His dad already had too much on his plate.

Instead, he held the cold hands of his mother, who whispered reassurances into his ear through the late hours of the night. She always disappeared when his father woke up. But how could she be here only when Dad wasn’t- and why was Dad talking about Mom’s funeral? Why did he cry at a mention of her name? He asked his dad, a few days after the incident. 

“She’s gone, buddy. I’m so sorry. I...” Henry trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Sal cocked his head at that. “But where did she go? I saw her just last night.”

Henry looked at his son. He was so small in the fabric of the hospital gown and in the large, loose bandages criss-crossing his bloody, forever scarred face. A single bright, blue eye stared at him with curiosity. 

He must not understand what happened to his mother, and he still believed she was with them. “Oh, Sal…” His father said gently, breaking down.

Sal was enveloped in the embrace of his father, whose arms reached all the way around his body, and whose head rested on top of his own. Sal was about to say something, anything, until he felt the shaking in his father’s shoulders and the wet spot growing on the top of his head. This was no time for questions. 

Sal enjoyed the comfort while it lasted. His father only became more distant as the years moved on.

\---

Several years passed before Sal realized that these beings were only seen by him. He had learned to avert his eyes from others and to not start conversations, because he always frightened others away. This made it hard to realize what beings were on the other side, and it made making friends impossible. He already scared his father -every single time Sal woke him up from a long night drinking, which seemed to be just about every night, his dad would look up at his prosthetic with some degree of hurt and horror. Sal didn’t want to hurt anyone else if he didn’t have to. 

Sal, once he was old enough to understand the concept of death, came to the realization that his mother had died before he was admitted to the hospital. His father was planning for her funeral because the woman Sal was seeing was only seen by him. The old woman at his bus stop looked exactly the same as the woman in the newspaper, in an article honoring her and her actions on the tenth anniversary of her death. The man on the street, being repeatedly hit by cars, but somehow never falling or being injured, was not alive. 

The evidence kept piling and piling until Sal had his epiphany. These people were dead, and he could still see them. Their touch was cold, their skin was gray, their eyes were dull, and they would always ask for release and a safe passage to the afterlife. They were ghosts, spirits, and they were undoubtedly dead.

Sal kept this knowledge to himself. His father was always busy and stressed as is and it’s not like he had friends to talk to about it. The kids and teachers at school would think he was insane (or more insane than they already believed him to be). The ghosts were very rarely malicious, and even when they were, none had enough energy to do much more than tipping over a glass or scaring a nearby animal. He just didn’t see the use in telling others.

Sal saw ghosts as mostly kind and harmless beings until he moved to Addison Apartments.

The ghosts there were deeply tormented and cursed. Their bodies were mangled and their skin was wet with cold blood. They begged for mercy- from what, he had no clue. He kept looking throughout the apartments, exploring the apartment, meeting new people, and potentially the strong spirit that torments the others.

He knew the moment that he saw the demon that it was the one the other spirits were so terrified of. The red eyes pierced Sal’s soul, and an energy that was so dark, biting, raw, powerful, ripped through his very being when he looked at the demon. 

Sal could almost hear it whisper something, probably aimed at him, but he ignored the presence and carried on. It seemed dangerous to even look at it, much less to talk to it. 

\---

Larry was a cool kid. He was older than Sal by over a year, his room was covered in merchandise from bands and television shows, he painted, and most surprisingly of all, he spoke with Sally. He thought Sal’s mask was cool- not creepy, not freakish, cool. 

They were quick friends. Sal still didn’t fully understand friends and how they worked, but he felt so safe and at home when he was with Larry that it wasn’t even a question. Maybe Larry could help Sal with his...condition. Larry would probably think he was insane, though.

Sal had seriously considered telling Larry that ghosts existed, and he could see them. The apartment complex he resided in was infested, so it only felt fair to tell him. But then, he remembered the red-eyed demon.

Sal had seen it every so often. Lurking. Staring down the residents. Sometimes, it would try to attach itself to a person or spirit, but their eyes would flash red, just for a split second, and the demon would be pushed back by some invisible force. 

Sometimes it would stay in his room, patiently looming over Sal’s bed as he desperately tried to sleep. Sal didn’t know if it knew he could see it, but he still ignored it, as if it would go away. The nights when it wouldn’t leave him alone, and its presence was too overwhelming, Sal would shut his eyes and talk to Larry on the walkie-talkie. 

The first evening that this happened was… rough, to say the least.

“Hey, Larry. Are you awake?”

The sound of static. Some crackling, and then a voice. “Yeah, dude. What are you doing up so late? It’s…” A pause, probably to look at a clock, “like 3 in the morning. Is something wrong?”

Sal felt the demon moving closer. He shut his eyes tighter and pulled his thin comforter close. “I’m having trouble going to bed. I doubt I’ll get any sleep tonight. What are you still doing up?”

“Hey, man, don’t change the subject. Are you having nightmares again?” Concern. Sal knew he didn’t deserve such kindness, but he still enjoyed it when people were nice to him.

Sal was having nightmares. But not tonight. Larry didn’t need to know the real reason. “Yeah. I can’t get any sleep with them. Do you think I could come down?” Sal asked, his voice growing softer with each word til his words were barely a whisper. Sal had only come down once before, when his nightmares filled with corpses and murderers and demons and a vicious dog became too much for him to handle alone.

Larry’s voice was gentle. “Oh, always, Sally! I’ll start getting you a bed together. Grab a pillow on your way down, though. My mom has extra mattresses but that’s about it.”

“Roger, Larry Face.” Sal responded. He was very grateful he had an excuse to get away from the demon haunting his every move, though now he did have to put his eye back in and his prosthetic on. 

Though Sal had known Larry for some time, and he trusted him more than any other person, he still couldn’t bring himself to show Larry what he looked like under his mask. It was an insecurity that Sal had had most of his life, and it wasn’t going away for a while.

And so Sally sat up, grabbed his pillow, put his prosthetics into place, and walked out the door. He shuddered as he passed by the demon, whose gaze was unmoving. 

His dad was passed out on the couch, with a bottle of some sort of alcohol by his side. Sal had urged his father to get therapy for years, but there was always some kind of excuse. There wasn’t enough money, Sal’s health is more important, he was too busy, he was coping fine without some person telling him how he feels. All lies, of course.

The ride in the elevator to the basement was silent. Sal tiptoed to Larry’s room, careful to not wake up Lisa. He hesitantly knocked on his door and was ushered in by a disheveled-looking Larry. His hair was somehow messier than usual, his bags under his eyes were heavier, and his smile was exhausted.

Now Sally was worried. “Larry, is something wrong? You look like a mess.”

“Geez, I let you into my room in the dead of the night and you’re already telling me I look like shit.” Larry said, mock-hurt, throwing his hand over his heart.

Sal gave him a deadpan stare, the most intense one he could when the rest of his face was obscured by his prosthetic. “Dude. Seriously.”

Larry sighed, dramatically throwing his head back. “Fine, fine, I’ll talk. Only if you do too. Can we at least lay down first?”

Sal narrowed his eyes, but complied. He situated himself, lying on his back (the only way to sleep comfortably with the prosthetic on), and tucking one of Larry’s spare blankets around him.

It was silent for a few minutes as the boys got comfortable. Then, Larry spoke. “I can’t stop thinking about Charley and Ms. Sanderson. I can’t believe something like that happened so close to us. It terrifies me.” A lengthy pause while Larry tried to figure out what to say. He almost seemed to be holding himself back. “Hey Sal, do you believe in an afterlife? In ghosts and demons?”

Sally immediately saw two options with this situation. The obvious one was to tell Larry the truth. Tell him about the beings he saw daily, especially in this apartment building, everything. 

But then, as if the thought of it had summoned it, the red-eyed demon appeared. It was between him and Larry, but off to the side just enough so that the boys still had eye contact. The demon whispered mockingly, in a voice that seemed to echo through Sal’s entire body, “Do you believe in me, Sally Face?”

That was a threat. Oh god, that was a threat. Sal didn’t know what it was capable of. It materialized even closer to Sal, so close he could see its every movement. 

What would happen if he told Larry? The demon could haunt him, too, or worse. He didn’t want to worry Larry about this seemingly unstoppable demon that haunted his home. What the fuck could they do to stop this ancient being? Maybe he could know, once Sally had figured out a way to end it.

Sal decided against telling Larry. “My family wasn’t ever religious, so I don’t believe in most of that kind of stuff. I am a bit superstitious, I guess. I keep things like gemstones and herbs and all that to keep safe, even though it’s mostly bologna. I’d need solid proof for things like ghosts, but it’s possible. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know, man. It’s just like...sometimes I see things in the apartments and it doesn’t seem right. Once I thought I saw this apparition in the building. It cursed me, I think. I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Well, fuck. “I…” Sal had no idea what to say. Telling Larry about the demon could make it target him, possibly. Sally still had no clue how it worked. He didn’t want his friend to be in danger. “I haven’t seen anything like that. Isn’t there a smart kid around our age in the building? Maybe he could help with something?”

A sigh. “I guess I can talk to Todd. We can all meet up later. Please don’t think I’m crazy or anything, I swear I saw something.”

“I believe you, man. Go to bed. We have school tomorrow. Goodnight, Larry Face.”

“Goodnight, Sally Face.”

\---

It was nearing winter break, and Sal, Larry, Todd, and Ashley were sitting together at a lunch table. Sal was incredibly thankful that people would actually sit with him and talk to him during lunch and throughout the school day. 

“So,” Ash began, “do you guys have any plans for the break?”

Larry said, leaning forward in his seat. “Yeah! We should all go out and explore this cave I found by the lake. I think it’s haunted or some shit. There are crazy bad vibes I got when I walked past it.”

Ash snorted. “You believe in that stuff?”

Todd spoke up. “I mean, I do. There’s quite a bit of evidence I’ve collected, especially from the apartments, that indicates the existence of ghosts. I’d need a bit more to prove it to the world, though…”

“I mean, I’m not saying they don’t exist. If Todd and Larry believe it, there’s a good chance it’s right, don’t you think?” Sally reasoned. That excuse seemed plausible enough to not reveal his secret.

“If you want, I can gather some equipment that detects paranormal activity. EMF detectors, thermometers, maybe a dowsing rod…” Todd rattled off, mumbling to himself about various tools.

“It’s a date, then! Let’s all meet at my place today at 4. It’s a long walk, though, so be prepared.” Larry said, clapping his hands together triumphantly.

“Uuughh,” Ash moaned, “This is dumb. But I’ll go. I can take my mom’s car and drive us there.”

Sal didn’t know if he should dread or be excited for this adventure. He reasoned that this could be a way to find a way to rid the demon from the apartments. He knew it had some kind of malevolent intentions, though the exact purpose it had was unknown. If Sal had more information on spirits, and if Todd and Larry were working on this ghost hunt, maybe Sal could be saved from his hauntings.

Maybe then, Sal could feel safe in his own home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang has their first ghost hunt, and Sal learns new things about himself that could prove to be very helpful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to try to space out updates, but all the kind words gave me the energy to finish another chapter! Thank you to everyone who has read, given kudos, bookmarked, and commented! If you have any questions, ask me on my Tumblr pasta-lesbian , and thank you again to my beta for helping out. Check her Tumblr at smolangryartist42 !

The four teenagers sat in Ash’s car that was parked on the edge of the lake. Todd was shoving his equipment into a worn bag. Larry had a backpack filled with items that were widely believed to be protective against ghosts-holy water, salt, sage, various gemstones, and crucifixes. 

There was a great variety in the items; if they encountered a spirit, the items would be tested out to see if they really worked. Sal honestly had little hope for their usefulness, and they might not even encounter a spirit, or one that is dangerous enough that they would need protection.

Larry held a flashlight in his hand. He opened up the passenger door and motioned for everyone else to follow. “Come on, guys. We need to hurry up before our parents kill us for being out so late.”

The group walked around the lake, with Larry upfront and Todd hesitantly trailing behind in the back. He had a few assorted detectors and pieces of technology in front of him. Todd had roped Sal into it, too, and he didn’t even understand what most of the numbers meant.

Todd’s brow was furrowed. “The numbers keep fluctuating…” He mumbled, as if taking notes to himself.

After twenty minutes of walking, Larry began to slow down. Ah, so there was a cave. It was about as tall as Ash, and wide enough for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder in it. It was dark, and shining the flashlight down into it revealed nothing except a rough, vaguely circular passageway.

Sal immediately noticed a presence. Even if he couldn’t see a spirit, he could usually sense it. As he looked deep into the infinitely dark cave, straining his eyes to see past the shadows, he noticed a small glow. 

Two pink, glowing circles, barely visible, were in the cave. Most likely the eyes of a ghost. About the right height, Sal reasoned. The orbs shrank back into the darkness before he could investigate further.

Larry stood frozen in front of the cave. His body seemed to shake, ever so slightly, in fear. He opened and closed his mouth, as if to say something, but no words came out. “Is this a good idea, even? What if there’s something... powerful down there?”

Ash groaned. This seemed to be a trend with the whole ghost hunting deal. “If you’re gonna wimp out on us, I’ll lead. Give me that flashlight. Sal and Todd, grab your ghost detecting devices and follow me.”

Larry nodded, thankful that he wasn’t asked to go in. It didn’t make sense to Sal that he seemed so excited to start this adventure, yet he wimped out last minute. The aura he felt from the spirit was strong, sure, but there have been stronger ones. Namely the demon that they both lived with.

“I’ll go, too, fine. But I’m staying in the back. Just in case.” Larry stated, head down. He held his canister of holy water in one hand, and salt in the other.

The group moved forward through the small cave. Todd and Larry had to duck down to even fit in. The cave seemed to have no end. It had a decent decline, and it was wet and slippery due to the lake. There were several slips and falls along the way.

The group carefully continued forward, and after a few minutes Sal could see a form through the shadows. 

It was a woman. She was covered in blood, dirt, and shadows. She looked to be in her twenties. She wore a plain floral dress that looked to be that of a grandmother’s. 

She made eye contact with Sal for just a second, but that was long enough. Her glowing eyes flew open and she came close to Sal. He noticed that her eyes weren’t pink-just splotches and patches of white and red, constantly moving, as if the colors were warring.

“Little boy, can you see me? Can you hear me?” She asked desperately.

Sal nodded subtly. He didn’t know if his friends knowing that he could see ghosts was a bad thing, but he kept it on the down low. For now.

“Please help me. The demon-it has me.” She begged, her hands pressed together and her strange eyes staring into Sal’s soul.

“What?!” Sal whispered frantically. The demon has that much of a stretch? What can the demon do with some random ghost? What-

Ash turned around. “What is it now, Sal? Did you see something?”

Todd checked his equipment. “None of the numbers seem off. Everything here seems normal. I doubt there’s anything here. I’m still not sure why the numbers were so off earlier.”

“No guys, I think there is something here. Don’t you hear anything?” Sal said. God, please don’t let them think he was insane.

A chorus of “no’s” swept through the group, and Sal was at a loss. What could he do to prove to these people that something was here? Todd didn’t have any scientific evidence, Ash didn’t even believe in the first place, but Larry….. Sal might have a chance to convince Larry.

“Larry, didn’t you say you felt something?” Sal pleaded, hoping for someone, anyone to trust him.

“I don’t know, man. I thought I did but it went away a while. The cave is just creepy. We should head back. It’s already dark outside.”

No one believed Sal. Fantastic. “You guys go ahead, I’m gonna investigate for just a few more minutes. Something’s off. I’ll catch up, I promise,” He muttered.

The others departed quickly, wanting nothing to do with this gross, cold cave. They all shot glances to each other on the way out, silently arguing about whether or not to force Sal out of the cave. 

Sal turned back to the distraught ghost once the group was out of earshot. “What do you mean, the demon has you?”

“I’m under its control. That’s why none of your devices detected me. It doesn’t want people to know about it until it has power. It doesn’t want people to know its weakne-” The spirit halted, bending over into herself, her wispy form melting and bubbling and tearing apart. 

Her eyes kept flashing red, a pure, blood red. “I can’t do much with it having me. Leave me. Leave this town. It doesn’t matter how powerful your powers are, you can’t take the demon once it has its power back.” She said, her voice strained and fuzzy.

Power? “Um, what powers? All I can do is see ghosts, maybe touch them. That doesn’t even matter, though. How do I free you?”

 

“You are capable of much more, I-” Her form seemed to tear itself down more and more. Then, Sal saw it. There was a darkness growing around her. It spread across her legs, crawling up her torso.

He didn’t wait to come up with a logical plan. Sal yanked out his pocket knife, grabbed the shadowy form, and stabbed. 

Sal felt a burning in his chest. He didn’t know what it was, but some primal instinct inside him told him to push that burn, let it course through his body, and out from his hand to his knife. 

He opened his eyes he hadn’t realized he had closed and saw a bright blue light coursing through the path the energy was taking.

The darkness shrank back into itself, until it was gone from the woman. Her eyes went through a blinding cycle of white and red and both and neither, until they settled on a dim off-white. The blood and dirt and shadows covering her body were gone. She looked at Sal with gratitude in her blank eyes.

“It will be back. Stronger. With more power. Looking for revenge. It was only possessing me from afar. You really ought to move away.” She warned. 

“How can I stop it?” 

The spirit merely looked down at her bare feet, shaking her head slightly. “I… couldn’t tell you. I don’t know how it works. It can only attack and manipulate through a host. A human is a whole lot harder to take over than a spirit.”

Sal was about to ask another question when he heard a yell from outside.

“Dude, seriously, what the fuck are you doing down there?! We need to go, like, now.” Larry called, shining his flashlight down the cave. The light barely reached Sal.

“I’m hurrying, Larry Face!” Sal shouted back. He turned to the ghost, who stood patiently against the cave wall. “I…” What was he supposed to say to a ghost he just saved from a demon, but one who he is also going to leave down here, alone, for an extended period of time?

“Good luck.”

She seemed to laugh at that. “And to you, too, Sal. You can do great things. Now, hurry on back home. And visit when you can.”

Sal smiled under his mask and made his way out of the dark and treacherous cave.

On the drive home, he was silent.

What was the demon doing to that spirit? Were all the other ghosts of the apartments in similar situations?

How could he save them? How could he stop the demon?

What had he done back in the cave to the darkness? Was it an extension of his power? Was it a by-product of being around spirits so much? 

When could he tell his friends, and prove his powers to them?

What was he capable of?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sal searches for information about his powers, the demon, and the whole situation he has found himself in. Thankfully, he doesn't need to go far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading! I'll try to post chapters every Thursday or Friday, but with school starting again it might be a bit more difficult. I'm so grateful for all the comments, and the kudos and bookmarks! If you have anything you would like to see in the fanfic, or if you have questions, comment or ask me on my Tumblr pasta-lesbian ! Thank you all, once more, and enjoy. <3

It had been a week since Sal had encountered the spirit and saved her from the demon’s grasp. The memory of a dead, bloodied woman, black shadows crawling up her form and taking over her very being still haunted him. 

More specifically, the demon still haunted him.

Sal had never had so much trouble sleeping at night. He had tried everything to try to get the demon to stay away.

Salt around his bed. Holy water poured on himself and his floor. Sage burned overnight. Blessings, spells, crucifixes, anything that people have said will help, he used. His father gave him weird looks when he saw the salt on the carpet, the wet spots on the floor and bed, and all the other protections, but that didn’t matter. Sal couldn’t die before he stopped this demon.

The demon knew Sal could stop him. Sal had no clue how close he was to stopping the demon, but he figured he was onto something. It would whisper threats to him during the night, sometimes.

_**“What a shame if something were to hurt your friends...all because you couldn't keep your mouth shut.” “I will end you soon enough.” “Your little tricks can’t work forever.” “Your little powers mean nothing to me. I’m so much more than you could ever imagine.”**_

The methods worked, occasionally. It would recoil from the boundaries made by them. Not all of them worked, like blessings and holy water (was the Christian idea of spirits incorrect? Maybe none of the spirits were from a heaven or hell, instead from somewhere else. Somehow that made things worse).

It would then push against the invisible walls that Sal had made, and each night it tried, it would get closer and closer, inch by inch. Many nights, the demon was gone. Sal had yet to follow it to try to figure out where it went. It was entirely possible it was just bored. Sal still couldn't figure out why it was so intent on terrorizing Sal specifically.

One evening, Sal couldn’t sleep, due to nightmares (Larry, Ash, and Todd were bleeding and covered in darkness, crying out to him, as he stood paralyzed-why couldn’t he have stopped the demon? This was all his fault), and didn’t feel like waking Larry. 

He went to Larry too often, and especially since the demon has been getting closer. Larry was getting more and more suspicious of Sal’s reasons for coming down. Sal needed to find a different reason or he could just...deal with it alone.

So he walked around the complex, searching for the spirit with the most energy. The demon was nowhere to be found, hidden behind strong walls, it seemed. It disappeared like this every so often. So Sal figured that it would be safe to ask the other spirits for help. He didn’t need to go far. 

In Room 403, there was a woman. The woman, Mrs. Sanderson, that Sal had found, dead, the day he moved into his apartment. She was covered in blood, similar to the ghost in the cave, and her eyes were a milky white. Sal had seen her before, but never had he attempted to talk to her. She stood idly in the empty apartment. Didn’t her husband still live here? 

“Mrs. Sanderson? Can I ask you some questions?” He whispered. He can’t wake up the other residents.

Mrs. Sanderson’s eyes flew open, shocked that anyone was addressing her, before softening. “Ah, I didn’t expect you to see me, especially without any of that fancy tech kids like you lug around. Go ahead, honey. Sally, was it? What do you need?”

Sal kept his guard up, and tried to see if he could feel the demon. He shut his eyes tightly and sensed the energies around him. Mrs. Sanderson, a gentle spirit above him, another troubled ghost wandering below, and several others, that were much weaker than the rest. Their spirits felt like gusts of wind, bursting at him from all directions, ignoring all laws of physics.

The demon itself was very distant and faded. He would be safe for the time being. He opened his eyes back and focused them on Mrs. Sanderson.

“I wanted to know, how would one get rid of the demon?” Sal leaned forward as he asked, as if the few inch difference would help. Closer to the answer, he supposed.

Mrs. Sanderson was frightened at the very idea of that, apparently. Her form shook and her milky eyes seemed to open wider, just a bit. “Oh, child, that’s a very risky thing to say. And do. It may not be with the living, on your side, but it’s getting more and more powerful by the day.”

Sal tilted his head, his loose blue hair falling over his mask. “Where does it get its power, then?”

She averted her eyes, as if she was debating telling Sal. He kept note of that. If she was scared to tell him something about the demon, it must really be able to hurt ghosts and spirits. Why does the demon keep the ghosts, alive then? What can it actually do now? And what could it do?

“Oh, whatever.” She mumbled. “I’ve already lived my life, why try to protect it now?”

She sighed, and then began. “The people of this town, mostly this building, are part of an organization that works to summon the demon. It's a cult, really. Rituals and cloaks. The whole shebang. My husband was in it. I don’t know why-he seemed to be such a good man. I found out he was in on this diabolical, evil plan to summon a demon to our world, and I just couldn’t handle it. I stole something of the cult’s.” Her translucent hand cupped her jaw, and she softly shook her head, disapproving of her past actions.

“The demon came for me. It took Charley’s body and slit my throat. It was punishing me for going against the cult, and by extension Herman, for letting me know.”

Sal shuddered. If he knew about the demon’s source of power and the cult, didn’t that put him in danger? If he told anyone else, wouldn’t it put them both into even more danger?

“I...Uh….Thank you for telling me, at least. Can you help me with something else?” Sal asked.

She chuckled at that. “Yes, dear?” 

 

“Have you ever met anyone who can see ghosts? I have more powers, but I don’t know how to get them to work, or even what they are.”

Mrs. Sanderson gave him a pitying look. “I’m afraid I can’t help you with that.” Her form jumped up, again, as if she had just gotten shocked. She startled very easily. Her form became brighter, her milky eyes turned to a clear white glow, and her hair began to float up higher. “It’s coming back. Leave!” She yell-whispered frantically, her form already wavering. 

The energy just from demon approaching was strong enough for other beings to immediately recognize it, Sal noted.

He then promptly left. He wasn’t going to face the demon until he had more information.

\---

Sal woke up in the middle of the night, a few days after the encounter. The demon’s presence was close. Again. God, couldn’t he be left alone for one week?

The demon was breathing down his neck, basically. The past few nights Sal had layered up on the salt and water and herbs and all that crap, but they were becoming less and less effective. The demon was probably growing more powerful by the day.

Sal felt a faintly familiar rush of energy in his body. Like back in the cave. It was stuck at his heart, thrumming softly.

He wondered what he could do with this little burst of power. Had he summoned it through some kind of instinct? It could be his body’s way of telling him when and how to use his newfound powers.

It doesn’t really matter why it happened, but rather how he uses it.

In the cave, his powers seemed to repel the demon. The ghost, however, just had faint traces of the demon controlling her. Sal wouldn’t be able to completely get rid of the demon, hopefully just enough so that he could sleep normally for a few weeks.

He pulled the power from his center, and pushed it out. A faint blue glow surrounded his body. Sal furrowed his brow. Was this some kind of barrier?

Sal pushed it out further, encompassing his entire bed, where the demon loomed. Its form retreated back in on itself. It pressed itself against the barrier and pushed. The thin layer of whatever the crap Sal had created warped with the demon’s touch. After a week or so it would be able to break through the thin shell, Sal reasoned.

But for tonight, Sal slept soundly, feeling safe in his little bubble. The demon usually exerted an overwhelming negative energy wherever it went, and whispered unintelligible things through the nights to Sal, but tonight, he didn’t feel or hear anything.

Sal slept soundly the next dozen nights that the demon visited him.

\---

The next time he returned to apartment 403, Mrs. Sanderson was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally learns about another power of his. If it is good or bad is yet to be determined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been waiting for this chapter for a while! Thank you for everyone who has read, and thank you all for 50+ kudos! As always, ask my Tumblr pasta-lesbian if you have any questions or requests, and comment!

The next night that the demon was away, Sal explored the apartment.

He started with the top floor, where another energy was present. Sal had been trying to catalogue each spirit in the building, just to keep his facts straight, and it was always good to do some field research. God, he sounded like Todd.

Sal was a bit shocked to see little Megan. Her eyes were so wide with childlike wonder, her smile was too bright, and she seemed too _alive_. Sal talked to her through the long hours of the night about everything- his powers, her death, their respective pasts.

When the demon’s presence began to grow stronger, Sal decided it was time to leave. He didn’t want either of them in trouble, even though she didn’t know any big secrets of the demon’s cult.

“Goodbye!” Megan said with a warm smile that didn’t match her cold, dead body. Her arms spread out and Sal realized she wanted a hug.

Well, he wasn’t one to deny a hug.

Usually, Sal couldn’t feel a ghost’s skin. If he happened to walk through one, he would feel a chill that he felt in his very core, but nothing solid. Just a whisper of a past soul.

When he reached out his skinny, cotton-wrapped arms, they hit something.

Sal didn’t stop when he noticed the oddity. He gave the young girl (too young, too young to die, too young to have lost so much, she didn’t deserve to die this way) a warm, homey hug. 

He wanted her to feel safe, to feel protected for just a little while. Just until he had to leave.

When Sal pulled away to leave (the sun was rising at this point, and the demon was pacing the building once again), he noticed something odd, again.

The room was even more decrepit than before-cobwebs and holes littered the apartment much more than when he had walked in. Sal’s clothes seemed tattered and torn, despite them being relatively new.

In hindsight, he shouldn’t have ignored these little details. Sal passed them off as him being too reckless, too zoned out to notice little details, etc. Unimportant, ultimately.

Sal quickly went back to his room. He decided against changing clothes. He futilely ran his fingers through his greasy hair and pulled them up into pigtails using the bands he kept around his wrist.

Usually, Sal, Larry, and Todd would walk to school together. Sal was first to arrive by the door, then Todd, then Larry, who came stumbling through the hallway, apologizing once again for almost making them all almost late for school.

So Sal, even though it was hardly past six in the morning, sat on the floor near the front door of the complex. He stared out the window, watching the sky change colors and the world move before him.

\---

Sal heard footsteps coming his way.

“Oh, hey Todd! Funny seeing you here.” Sal called out. He stood up to greet his friend. He didn’t feel sore from sitting on the floor, but he was bored out of his mind.

Todd didn’t look over at Sal. The boy got to the front door, standing right in front of Sal, and set his backpack down. Todd leaned forward, peeking through the front window. His eyebrows furrowed and his mouth turned down.

“Sally Face, where are you?” Todd yelled down the small hallway. Silence. He shook his head, presumably to himself. What?

“Haha, very funny, Todd.” Sally said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. This was weird, even for Todd.

Todd showed no sign he had heard Sal. He chewed his lip and muttered to himself, “Where is he now?”, as he walked down to the elevator and hit the up button.

“Todd! This isn’t funny!” Sal yelled again anxiously.

Todd didn’t even flinch at the scream, and boarded the elevator without another word. Sal knew at this very moment, this wasn’t a joke. Why couldn’t he see Sal? 

Did the demon curse him? Was it the result of using too much energy? Was he...dead?

Sal paced back and forth, back and forth in front of the front door. The more he walked, the more he fell into the deep rabbit hole of thought, and with each step a new, more horrifying explanation for his situation was discovered. Energy welled up in his chest, tight and balled up, only worsening the anxiety he was feeling.

His eyes shut tighter and tighter and he fell to the floor, onto his knees. Sal curled into himself. “What did you do to me!?” He screamed, knowing no one would hear him. Knowing no one would answer.

Sal knew, logically, that he was having some kind of anxiety attack. The pull in his chest (supernatural or not), the tears welling up in his eyes, the shaking of his hands that held onto his pigtails like handrails.

Sal felt the energy in his chest and pushed it out. It wouldn’t budge. He tried again, just attempting to move it away from his chest. Anything. It was weighing down on his chest like an anvil.

After a moment of clenched teeth and straining himself to control his powers, he felt it disperse through his body, the way strong medicine shoots through your sinuses. Sal breathed deeply. Focused on breathing. In, out, in out in out inoutinoutinoutin-

Another indeterminate amount of time passed before Larry walked out of the elevator with a frantic Todd at his side.

Larry saw Sally and laughed a bit. What? “See, Todd, I knew he was fine. He’s right where he always is. What’s up, Sal?” A moment of silence, quiet enough to hear a drop of a pin. “Yo, dude, are you okay? What’s the matter?”

Sal’s hands slowed their shaking as he gently, slowly removed them from his pigtails. He couldn't really do much about the tears now, so he blinked hard a few times, praying all traces of his mini breakdown would be hidden. It was a futile attempt, but Sal hated worrying others.

Sal uncurled himself and stood shakily. “Oh, don't worry about it. I like sitting like that.” Sal nearly hit himself in the head for that idiotic statement. “I...uh….needed to go back to my apartment. I forgot some homework.” He stumbled forward on unsure legs, but kept moving.

“That doesn't make any sense, Sally!” Todd yelled. “Sorry for yelling, but you really scared me! I thought something had happened to you! You are always the first one down here! Then I checked your room, Larry’s room, every single hallway, and every other apartment and no one had seen you!”

“Listen, that doesn’t matter now. Are you okay, Sal? Frankly, you look like shit.” Larry said, cutting off the other boys’ argument.

Sal looked down and headed towards the elevator. School didn’t seem too appealing at the moment, and Sal felt like curling up under a thick comforter and napping. “I’m fine, really. Go ahead to school without me. I feel a little sick, so I think I’ll stay home.”

Todd and Larry gave each other a helpless ‘what do we do?’ glance and Sal internally sighed.

“Just get to school before you’re late. I’ll be a-okay.” He gave an unconvincing attempt at showing he was healthy-the thumbs-up and the smile that was only visible in his eyes didn’t, COULDN’T mask the bags under his eyes, the shake of his body, and the general state of disheveledness his clothes and hair were in.

Todd looked at his watch. “Larry, we should go. Sal, stay safe. Take your meds and eat, too.” He reached for the handle of the door. “C’mon, Larry.”

Larry seemed very conflicted, but once Sal gave him a hard glare and turn of the head towards the exit, his head fell down in surrender and he followed Todd out the door and down the road.

Once the door shut firmly behind the boys and they were well on their way to school, Sal rushed up to his room, ignoring the stares from a mix of alive and dead residents of the complex.

He sat down on his dingy bed, which still smelled like sage and salt, pulled out a notebook, and began writing a list.

It was a list of what the fuck happened just now. It was a list of his powers, abilities, limitations. Experiments to conduct. Spirits to talk to, those to avoid.

And who he could trust with this information. Sal thought hard about that one, considering everyone’s beliefs and hypothetical reactions. The danger he could put them in with some of the knowledge he’s accumulated.

After a long moment of pondering, he wrote down ‘Larry?’

Maybe.

Hopefully soon.

**Author's Note:**

> When I started to write this I only had a vague understanding of how the Red-Eyed Demon works, so many of the details are a bit….iffy. My excuse is that this is a ghost-hunter AU! The ghosts have more attributes that are, for lack of a better term, ghost-y, and I have decided that the demon is a very powerful spirit, capable of many different powers that will be revealed later. It isn’t too powerful at this point, so the cult works to give it more power through various rituals. If you have more questions about how any of this works, comment here or ask me on my Tumblr pasta-lesbian . Many thanks to my beta for helping me out, and check out her Tumblr smolangryartist42 . Thanks for reading :)


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